¡°I¡± who have been crucified

¡°I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me... ¡± (Galatians 2:20) The Bible states that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Because I have been crucified with Christ, ¡°I¡± do not exist in God¡¯s eyes. God has finished the world of ¡°I¡± through the cross of Christ. Therefore, the world of ¡°I¡± is an illusion. What I am living for now is by faith. ¡°...and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.¡± (Galatians 2:20)

Up until now, we were deceived by Satan and believed in ¡°my world,¡± which prevented us from being united with God. However, Christ ended ¡°I¡± on the cross so that I could be one with God. In other words, the death of Jesus became our death. So instead of trying to be one with God, we just need to look toward the cross, where ¡°I¡± was vanquished.

Before His death on the cross, Jesus said, ¡°It is finished.¡± (John 19:30) What He meant was that He had finished ¡°I¡± on the cross in order to make me one with God. Jesus not only ended my sin but also ¡°myself.¡± Thus, salvation, as well as everything concerning faith, should begin at the cross. Clearly, the world of ¡°I¡± ended on the cross; hence, we should no longer be slaves to sin. ¡°Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?¡± (Romans 7:1) ¡°Sin¡± is not proven by actions, but through the law. In other words, it is not judged according to acts, but according to applicable laws, where it is condemned. However, the entire law will cease when we die. If we die no law can confine us. No matter how much sin a person has committed, the law will not condemn the dead. Therefore, no matter what kind of sin is revealed in the future, the law cannot punish us again, because of our being crucified with Christ.

In Romans chapter 7, verse 5, it states: ¡°For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.¡± Also in verse 6 it states, ¡°But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.¡± This Word are also connected to chapter 7 verse 21: ¡°I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.¡± (Romans 7:21-23)

In these verses, the ¡°law¡± is stated many times. The law is divided primarily into two categories. One is the law in my members and the other is of the mind. In each of us, there is the law of the mind, which desires to be good. That law fights against with the law in the members, which desires sin. Therefore, we are bound to the law of sin. ¡°For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.¡± (Romans 7:14) When one enters into the law of sin, one becomes sinner, and as a sinner, death comes. Thus, the Apostle Paul exclaimed, ¡°O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?¡± (Romans 7:24) With this being our true nature -- being of the flesh and sold into bondage to sin -- we cannot conquer the desire of sin. We do not have the power to reject that nature. Because of this inability, we need to be cut off from wild olive tree in order to shed our nature. Yet, merely having the desire to do good will not shed our nature. In fact, desiring and struggling with all our effort to do good will not change us.

Exceedingly great and precious promises

¡°For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.¡± (Hebrews 10:14-16) God said that He would put new laws into our hearts, which would only have the desire to do good. His covenant is that ¡°Their sins and their lawless deeds will not be remembered.¡± ¡°And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.¡± (Hebrews 10:17) The heart that desires to be good always loses when it fights with the desire of sin that works in our members. Into this heart God gave His law. Accordingly, this law fights with the desire of sin.

Then who will win? The law of God in our heart wins. Then we will neither be bound to sin nor be under the law of sin. By abiding in the law of God we are righteous and can no longer be bound by sin. The desire of sin that works within our members will continually work as long as our flesh exists. Just because we are crucified with Christ does not mean that the desire of sin end. It will only end the life of following one¡¯s right and leading one¡¯s own ways. Proclaiming one¡¯s right will not overcome the desire of sin; therefore, God finished ¡°I¡± and gave His law into our hearts. In war, one cannot fight tanks with a pistol. Stronger weapons like torpedo missiles must be used to attack the tank. It would be foolhardy to combat a tank with a gun even after possessing such weapons.

To overcome the desire of sin is the promise of God. Personal goodwill may cover up some of the deficiency one possesses, but it will not shed one¡¯s nature. Conse-quently, the world of ¡°I¡± should end, so that one might only have faith in the promise of God. Both salvation and faith depend on the promise of God; therefore, His promise will lead us. It is not according to what we need to do but according to His promise that we will be kept and protected. ¡°Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.¡± (2 Peter 1:4)

Peter described the promise of God as being ¡°exceedingly great and precious promises.¡± Before coming into this realization, Peter experienced this promise being more precious to him when he was free from himself. In chapter 21 of John, Peter forgot about the promise of the Lord, and had gone fishing after Jesus had been crucified. All night long he could not catch one fish, then Jesus came to him. After the Lord¡¯s Word, ¡°Cast the net on the right side of the boat,¡± he cast the net, and there was a great number of fish.

At that moment, Peter may have remembered the very first time he met the Lord. That day was similar to this situation. He had struggled all night but could not catch one fish. Then the Lord told him: ¡°Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.¡± And Peter answered, ¡°Master, we have toiled all the night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.¡± He cast out the nets again. Afterward, great quantities of fish were caught, causing the nets to rip. Thus, the Lord had taught Peter the world of relying on the Lord, by ending the toilsome world of relying on one¡¯s self. After Peter had caught fish through Jesus, he threw away everything and followed Jesus. Then received the promise: ¡°From henceforth thou shalt catch men.¡± (Luke 5:10) Still, Peter headed in a foolish direction. He argued with other disciples about ¡°Who is the greatest?¡± and denied Jesus three times, after giving his word that he would not do so. Also, after Jesus was crucified, he went to catch fish.

But Jesus came to Peter, despite all these things. The Lord asked Peter, ¡°Do you love Me?¡± Peter answered, ¡°Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.¡± Up to three times, his answer was the same. Here, Peter¡¯s ¡°I¡± did not stem from relying on himself. After denying Jesus three times, the trust he had in himself had fallen down. Jesus did not say to Peter, ¡°Are these the actions of person who claims to love Me?¡± Instead, He said, ¡°Feed My sheep.¡± This is how Peter experienced the hands of the Lord holding onto him. The promise that was given to him did not leave him, and until the end, he experienced its guidance. Subsequently, Peter was able to testify, ¡°Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.¡± (2 Peter 1:4)

Even today, we also have the promise of the Lord. It¡¯s not we who have followed the Lord and loved Him, but the Lord came to us. We only distance ourselves from the Lord, but the Lord comes our way again and takes hold of us in the same way with love. True faith is living the life of receiving this kind of love from the Lord. The Lord¡¯s mercy has not yet ended. Because the promise is so clear, even today that promise makes us rest. Therefore, we need to live by trusting the promise and not struggling to achieve something of our own.

The reflection of myself in the laver

laver

¡°And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.¡± (Exodus 38:8) By entering through the east gate of tabernacle, one saw the altar of burnt offering first, then the laver. This laver was made using the bronze mirrors of serving women. They needed mirrors to see themselves, so why did they donate their mirrors in order to make the laver? Why would such women, who served the tabernacle of the congregation and needed to keep themselves neat, do that? Since all of the instruments used in the sanctuary were made of gold, they did not use women¡¯s mirrors to make the laver because they lack the bronze. There was an important spiritual meaning in it.

People see themselves by gazing at a mirror. Ninety percent think themselves fair when they look into a mirror. This is not an accurate view of the self, because people can only see from their own point of view. God does not want us to find ourselves by looking into our own mirrors. He wants us to discard our mirrors. Our true image is shown when we are before God, which is the image that is reflected upon the laver in the tabernacle. It is only before God that we can find and understand our true image.

Yet, many people try to see themselves using their own mirrors; they claim to see themselves by it. Those people live by concealing and fabricating their lives. This is typical of people who have their own mirrors. After Cain killed Abel, he confessed to God, ¡°My punishment is greater than I can bear.¡± This idea came from looking at his mirror. Thereafter, he built an empire to conceal and fabricate his life. He built an empire that would sustain him. People like Cain claim to find themselves through their mirrors. Instead of allowing the Word to come into their hearts, causing the Word and their hearts to become one, they usually manipulate the Word to conceal themselves. ¡°I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.¡± (John 15:5)

¡°If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.¡± (John 15:7) As we reflect on this Word to Cain, we can see that Cain¡¯s heart did not abide in the Word of God, and he himself did not abide in God. Cain left God, so none of God¡¯s Word remained in his heart. People who have thrown away their mirrors and who have found themselves in the mirror of God no longer try to conceal themselves. The will of God lies where our expectations have been let go, our mirrors have been cast away, and where our lives could not be concealed or fabricated. The important thing is not how we see ourselves. Now, our mirrors have to be thrown away. Persons who possess their own mirrors end up going one or the other in fabricating themselves; they either remain in a prideful position, or are in miserable states because their cover has been blown. We are finished when we are being reflected in the mirror of God.

The Bible states that we have been crucified with Christ and are therefore dead. So why are we being uplifted again? It is because we are holding onto our own mirrors. We need to discard our mirrors, throwing away how we see ourselves, and be focused on how God sees things. Our mirrors have to be sacrificed like the mirrors of the serving women, who donated them to make the laver. The Word of God tells us to look into His mirror from now, no matter how we see ourselves. No matter how many times we hear the gospel, if our mirrors have not been discarded, salvation will not come. Such people hold onto the Word, and struggle to fix their own problems by the Word. But even if they hear and know much of the Word of God, they will never be changed fundamentally.

¡°No one, Lord¡±

¡°For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.¡± (2 Corinthians 10:12)

This Scripture reveals to us those who hold onto their own mirrors. These people compare themselves with themselves and measure themselves by themselves. They are constantly caught up between two thoughts, either ¡°I am okay¡± or ¡°why am I like this!¡± When their faults are covered, they become proud; but when they are not, they become discouraged. They wander from one path to the other. The Bible considers such people as being foolish. Those who compare themselves with themselves search for something good within themselves for which they can be proud. Such people do not associate themselves with others. Joab is an example of this type of person. Joab thought he was doing fine, judging according to his own mirror. No one dared to speak honestly to Joab. Also, King David could not be united with Joab.

To Cain, ¡°the promise of God¡± was given. However, when Cain saw himself through his own mirror, he thought, ¡°My punishment is too great to bear, and whoever finds me will kill me.¡± Even though God had stated, ¡°That will not happen,¡± Cain did not discard his own mirror. Had he reflected upon the mirror of God, he would have seen no sin, but because he reflected upon his own mirror, his sin was too great to bear. When, the prodigal son saw himself through his own mirror, he said, ¡°Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.¡± (Luke 15:18-19) This Word are similar to Cain¡¯s testimony: ¡°My punishment is too great.¡±

Yet, the prodigal son was able to discard his own mirror and see himself through his father¡¯s mirror. His father clearly told him, ¡°You are my son.¡± The prodigal son saw himself abiding in his father. Therefore, how the prodigal son saw himself did not really matter. God wants to give us the spirit of stepchildren, and not that of fearing servants. We need to see according to God¡¯s mirror, rather than our own. Our mirrors have to be sacrificed in making the laver, so that we can be reflected in the laver. That is faith. John chapter 8 documents a woman caught in the act of adultery. It was evident to the woman herself that she needed to be stoned to death because of her act.

However, by coming to Jesus, those who were about to cast stones were also revealed as sinners, and the woman, who understood herself to be sinner, became righteous. Through the mirror of God, all humans are of the flesh, being doers of evil and sold under sin. ¡°He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.¡± At Jesus¡¯ Word, all those who condemned woman departed. Thus, Jesus asked, ¡°Where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?¡± And all that she could respond was ¡°No one, Lord.¡± Through God¡¯s mirror, we have to see ourselves as sinners but also find ourselves to be righteous.

The mirror of God is ¡°the word of promise.¡± To be reflected in the mirror of God is to be reflected in the Word of God. In being reflected in the mirror of promise, we became perfect, being flawless and blameless by the blood of Jesus. This is so clear and right. Yet, Satan bewilders us in order to hide this fact. In Exodus 38, the women serving at the tabernacle of the congregation did not possess their own mirrors. Thus, they no longer were able to see themselves by their own mirrors. In order to see themselves, they had to go up to the laver. Up until now, we have been looking at ourselves through our own mirrors. But now, in order to see ourselves, we need to go to the laver. Come up to the Word of God. Through the mirror of God, we can find that we no longer carry sin. So, until the coming of the Lord, we should all live a blessed life, seeing ourselves according to the mirror of God¡¯s promise